Play On
by Tidia
Summary: Brotherhood AU. When the darkest days are upon The Brotherhood it is time to seize the day. It is time for Dean, Sam and Caleb to fulfill their destiny with a hunt reminding Dean of his duty.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Play On

By: Tidia

Beta: Mog (without whom Operation Christmas Lobster would not happen)

Disclaimer: Everything Supernatural is owned by the WB and Kripke. The Brotherhood was created by Ridley C. James

Notes: So tonight I went to the Ames Hotel and met Sam, Sam Talbot of Top Chef fame. LOL. It was an internal squee moment for me. This is the second story of the pentalogy Ridley and me are creating. Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US. Thank you to Ridley for hearing me whine and whine. Thank you kind readers and reviewers and know that you are always appreciated.

Part 1

They were running late. The getaway from dealing with the harpies unleashed on Philadelphia was not quick. The creatures had ingratiated themselves into the community. Evil rarely came at people in its true form--it was insidious and believable; filling a need people did not know existed.

Mac knew they were on the job but requested their presence, all of them, in New York City by three o'clock Saturday. They thought they would make it with time to spare, but the things they hunted rarely made allowances for social timetables.

They had stopped at a gas station, changed into less stained clothing and washed off the worst of the grime in the sink. Dean chauffeured them to Mac's building were they were waved in by the doorman.

Dean raised his hand to the hunter standing guard in the lobby. He was part of the extra protection Mac required. Extra protection that since the loss of so many hunters made Dean feel a little more comfortable.

"He looks like a CIA operative," Sam commented.

"The other owners are thrilled with the protection," said Caleb Rufus arranged for them, a trio of hunters that has a security business on the side. That's Everett- he's a favorite of the women in the building."

"You jealous about losing your status?" Dean shoved Caleb.

"Mac's probably happy he hasn't had to move in awhile," Sam added as they made their way to the elevator.

Mac's 15th floor condo had a view of Central Park. While not the penthouse, it was high enough to have a great view and low enough to get out of the building using the stairs. Caleb gave a cursory knock on the door, but was quicker with the key.

The foyer gave a view of a formal family dinner happening in the dining room. Dean looked down at his jeans, the hole by the knee.

"Did Mac mention he was having a party?" Sam tugged self-consciously at the sleeves of his shirt.

Dean could feel his brother's discomfort. Sam was still in hiding, afraid of what people would think about him. Dean thought if _he _was willing to work past Sam's issues, then it was sending a message to the other hunters to do the same. No one needed to know about their rough patch, or the cracks they were still mending.

Joshua greeted them first. "You're late." He held up a bottle of champagne to Caleb. "Drink as much as you can. You'll need to fortify yourself. I'll try to hold them off."

"What's this about, Josh? Are you buzzed?" Dean eyed Caleb as he took a swig of champagne.

"The happy couple is coming." Josh moved so he was standing next to Sam, opening up Dean, Caleb and Sam to the others.

"Happy couple?" Dean mouthed to his brother.

Sam pointed to his left hand, third finger. It made sense to Dean and he gripped Caleb's bicep while pulling the bottle out of his hand, hiding it awkwardly in his leather jacket.

Mac reached them first, towing Esme by her hand beside him. "I was getting worried."

"What's with the family gathering, Dad?"

"Mayor Bloomberg married Esme and I today." Mackland smiled. "Your grandfather stood in for best man."

Esme stepped forward and kissed Caleb on the cheek. "We wanted you boys to be there. We held him here for as long as we could."

Dean prompted Caleb forward, and Caleb gave Esme a hug. "I think you know that things don't always go as planned." Dean had done enough prompting, and Caleb rallied, reaching a hand out to his father. "Congratulations. This is a surprise."

"A good one I hope," Mackland replied.

Caleb's silence was a little too long. Dean covered for him. "Any surprise with food is a good one. It smells like chicken. I just love chicken, don't I, Sammy?"

"Yeah, Dean loves chicken. Congratulations," Sam said, giving Esme a kiss on the cheek and shaking Mac's hand, too.

"I'm going to say hi to Grandfather. It's been a while." Caleb excused himself, which Dean recognized as taking a moment to lick his wounds.

"Perhaps you'll be more successful at prying him away from my grandmother," Joshua said, following him out. "He insisted sitting next to her at the dinner table."

Mackland ran a finger over his brow, watching his son leave. "I should have told him alone. I wasn't thinking."

"Maybe we should have waited," Esme said, her hand going to Mackland's arm.

"Carpe Diem," Dean said. "We needed some good news." The death of Ellen and Jo weighed on him. "Damien will come around. Give him a little time for the champagne to kick in." Dean pulled the bottle from his jacket.

Dean enjoyed the dinner, relinquishing Joshua's bottle of champagne, and kept up an appropriate conversation for the small gathering of Jocelyn, Cullen, Joshua, Carolyn and Bobby. Caleb sat near Mac, while Dean and Sam were seated on the other end of the table near Bobby, who kept saying that he was really surprised Esme chose Mac over him. He thought they had more of a connection. It was apparent to Dean it was just a pretence. He was shaken from Ellen's death and had made Dean tell him in detail about Ellen's last moment on earth with her daughter.

Sam felt he was not in a hostile crowd and brought his shoulders down a notch. Dean left his brother inside and pulled two beers from the refrigerator and took them outside where Caleb leaned against the railing. The city below was filled with lights and motion. "Damien, do you want the speech about how you didn't lose a dad but gained a family, or the story about the bird, the cat and cow?"

The mention of his father's parable got a smile out of Caleb. He took the offered beer. "I get why he did it. With Bobby hurt, Ellen gone, I think he didn't want any regrets. I'm happy for him, them."

"Yeah, I can see that." Dean raised his eyebrows, calling Caleb out for sounding and acting distant.

Caleb lifted the beer in a mock toast. "Well maybe I'll get a buzz going like Josh, and everything will seem peachy."

Thankfully, Carolyn was watching over Joshua who seemed to be _too _happy about the marriage, going so far as to give a toast to the newlyweds, overcompensating for Caleb's lack of enthusiasm. It was a fun train wreck to watch.

"Now that's a good idea." Dean removed the cap from his beer with his ring. "Dude, you always had this thing about not sharing your people."

"My people? Deuce, I research cults, I don't run one. Though it isn't a bad idea."

"The people you let in, that you are close to. It's cool 'cause you would do anything for them, but you don't want them to change." To Dean, Mac and Esme should have been married a long time ago, but their sons got in their way and affected their timing. The newlyweds seemed to come to an understanding that their sons would always be a priority for them, but they could still be there for each other too.

"And you embrace change so well?" Caleb teased.

Dean did not reply at first. "I'm trying to roll with the punches."

Caleb lifted Dean's chin and moved his face from side to side. He had gotten an elbow to the face by one of the harpies. "Seems like you should have ducked."

Dean shrugged. They got the job done. "Mac said he wants to talk to us."

Caleb sighed, took another big gulp of the beer, then started to play with the label.

"What?" Dean asked. Caleb knew something.

"Things are changing, Deuce, and I'm not talking about Esme redecorating." Caleb put the bottle down on the small outdoor table. "Mac wants to handover The Triad. He wants us to takeover. Marrying Esme was the last sign that Mac was ready to retire. He would not have married her if it meant exposing her to more risk."

Dean didn't know what else Caleb said after 'takeover' as he sat down hard on the iron patio chair. "Maybe you're wrong." Dean tried to think of a time when Caleb had been wrong or misunderstood.

"We're going to find out right now," Caleb answered as there was a tap on the glass French doors. Mac was knocking with Sam behind him. They joined Dean and Caleb on the balcony.

Sam looked upset; Dean frowned, trying to figure out what had happened. Had Mac already talked to Sam?

"Son, I want to apologize again. Esme and I decided very quickly to make this official." Mac rubbed a hand over his mouth. "I wanted you to be there, happy with my decision."

"Dad, we're good. Just as long as you don't have any more kids, Josh doesn't call you Dad and I stay Cullen's favorite."

Mac nodded. "I think we can manage that."

With that situation diffused, Dean wanted to address his main concern. "You said you wanted to talk to us?"

Sam answered instead of Mac. "Dean, I told Mac everything-about Ruby, the demon blood, the final seal. . ."

Dean was proud of his brother for telling Mac about his downfall. They only left Mac out because of his position, and Dean didn't want to feel the disappointment that he had not been a good brother.

"Bobby had already told me," Mac said quietly. "But, I am proud that Samuel told me himself. You all need to know that I always have an open door for you to come talk to me. I would rather you didn't keep secrets, from each other and from me, especially now."

Dean accepted the admonishment and hoped that was the end of the conversation. He started to stand. "Well, if that's everything then I think we should break out those cigars that you save for special occasions."

"Actually, no, that wasn't the reason why I wanted to speak to you boys."

Dean resumed his seat, and tried for a passive face.

"I always thought John and Jim would be by my side when this time came," Mac said, looking out to the distance as if seeking out the hard to see stars in the New York City sky. He returned to the present. "But we've all had to deal with the unexpected. I wanted to give you boys as much time as possible to find yourselves, and you have… all of you becoming men to admire because you have each overcome so much." Mac put his fingers over the silver band of The Brotherhood. "I am going to retire this Triad so the next one can begin."

They remained still; Dean could clearly hear the conversation taking place inside. Bobby was teasing Joshua about his interest in the wedding plans. Dean wanted to leave and join them, but duty and honor to Jim, his father and Mac, kept him on the balcony..

Sam interrupted the silence. "Mac, I can't be The Scholar, not after all I did. All I told you-"

"And don't forget Lucifer wants Sammy and Michael wants to inhabit me," Dean added. "I don't know if we're going to walk away." He didn't know if there would come a time where he would allow Michael in, and then what would happen? Would Sam give in? Caleb was already talking about tempting dreams from the devil. "You might want to re-think this."

Mac put up his hands in a calming gesture. "I've given this a lot of thought. It's time because you need to be The Triad for the extra protection it provides. You've been looking for Triad Power. Once you find it, I hope it can help, but in the meantime the three of you together as a full Triad can be powerful all on its own."

Sam shook his head, lost in the quagmire of the recent past. "Other hunters are supposed to respect the positions of The Triad. They aren't going to respect me when they find out what I did."

Mac grabbed Sam's forearm and pulled him in closer. "You are going to be The Scholar. No one is perfect, and it is about _growing_ to become a better person, _learning_ from your mistakes."

"It's not your opinion we're worried about," Dean commented, making eye contact with Caleb who so long ago had been reviled by the other hunters, determined to mark him as untrustworthy because of his lineage. But Caleb did not add any argument. He followed the discussion.

"The hunters respect all of you. You have the witches willing to work with you." Mac gestured to Joshua. "You have angels on your side."

Unlike his son, Mac had not had the privilege of meeting the angels, but like his son, he wanted to believe they were benevolent in nature no matter the evidence against them. Mac's logic was that Castiel's quest to find God showed not all was lost with the angels.

Dean put up two fingers. "Two angels not at full power." He included Anna. "The rest are against us."

"Deuce, if we don't do this now when are we going to? There is always going to be another excuse. We can't avoid this forever." Caleb had embraced his role as The Knight, desired it in fact. Dean knew this, didn't want to deny his friend who embodied the spirit of The Brotherhood.

"Not forever, Damien, maybe a year or so," Dean explained. In a year they would see if they were succeeding against Lucifer or if he would have to allow Michael in as much as he resisted the idea.

"I'm not Victor." In Mac's eyes was a plea. "I am not going to run away with my bride to Hawaii. My life, our lives are about you boys and the future."

In the end it was Sam who swayed his decision. "Dean, I want to do this." Sam's hand was splayed on his chest. "I've got a lot to make up for, and The Brotherhood protects humanity. I have to do that."

Dean closed his eyes, trying to envision him formally being The Guardian, adding onto his responsibility, but like his brother had said, helping humanity. He would not be alone. He would have Sam and Caleb. He nodded his agreement.

Joshua gave a rap on the door, but didn't wait to be invited in. "Pardon my interruption, but Cullen has invited my grandmother to stay with him and Bobby."

"That's quite a nice gesture. There is plenty of room-"

Caleb stepped away from the railing of the balcony, rallying to Joshua's side. "No way. No way are the grandparents hooking up. It's sacred. Can't you do anything to stop that?"

"Dude, you're The Knight. He's the Advisor and you can't stop your grandparents from hooking up? We're doomed before we've started." Dean raised his eyebrows. It was a challenge to the two men, and it gave him ammunition. He would encourage Jocelyn and Cullen. They were not his grandparents, after all, and any moments of lightheartedness were welcome.

"Joshua, Mac just told us he wants to retire and he wants us to step in," Sam explained, temporarily losing his hesitancy.

Joshua didn't seem to be the least surprised, probably surmising what Caleb had too- Mac's marriage heralded the end of his time with The Triad. Joshua looked over his shoulder, back to where Carolyn, Esme and Jocelyn were with Bobby. "Bobby wanted to bet my grandmother that you would have the ceremony this week."

"What?" Was Dean the only one being surprised?

"How much was the bet for?" Caleb asked.

Mac sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose. "Our whole family is here. Jocelyn was at the last transfer of power, and it would be nice to do things properly for once."

"Are we talking about doing this tomorrow?" Sam asked, his arms stiffly by his side. Suddenly, the secure person disappeared.

"No, next week."

"Then Jocelyn's going to have to get a hotel room because Cullen moves fast and we'd be looking at another surprise wedding. Can't she stay with you and Carolyn? That way you have time for a little talk. . ." Caleb pointed to Joshua as if giving him an order.

"Carolyn has a one bedroom. There's not enough room. And we've already had a chat," Joshua replied.

Dean surmised the discussion was about Ben Mosley and any information Jocelyn knew about her husband's Triad. "How much was the bet for?" Dean asked. He hoped Jocelyn forwent the hotel and took up Cullen's invitation. He'd pay Bobby to help the situation along if need be.

"She didn't want to take the bet, something about never betting against a full Triad, especially when they were handsome." Joshua said while shaking his head.

"At least I can still rely on my good looks. What are the rest of you going to do?" Dean relaxed back into the chair to pretend he was comfortable with the idea of being The Guardian in a week.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Play On

By: Tidia

Beta: Mog (making a guest appearance)

Disclaimer: Over and over again. See Part 1

Rating: Just language every once in awhile

Notes: I hope all who celebrate Thanksgiving had a happy one (we have left over apple pie), and all who go out on Black Friday were successful. Onto the next holiday! Thank you to kind readers, those who mark me as their favorite and put me on story alert. Totally awesome! Thank you to Ridley and her texting.

Part 2

Sam lay on the bed staring at the ceiling since it was better than staring at the clock watching time pass in the darkest hours. Now sun filtered in through the blinds and Sam could hear the city, not that New York City ever slept, but there had been lulls in the noise level.

At least with the dawn breaking it was justifiable for him to get out of bed. He still lingered, trying to grasp on to some sleep. He could not shut off his mind, seeking redemption, to remove the threat of Lucifer. He hoped he would find it by becoming The Scholar.

He hadn't found it by leaving hunting, leaving Dean. All that time spent running away from his family when truly he needed them. They were an asset. Dean, however, had been held back by his family because they needed him. Dean's path to redemption was a little different; he was proving to himself he could still be there for his family, yet make independent decisions to help more than his family.

They were on their own paths, although it looked different, they were converging onto a wide road. With a sigh, Sam decided he was not going to fight to get some sleep. He could put his energy elsewhere. He navigated out of his room at Caleb's home, surprised to see his brother lacing up his sneakers. "Hey, you going out for a run?"

After Dean double knotted he stood up, then stretched long. "Heading to Central Park for a lap around the Reservoir."

Sam scratched the back of his head, feeling his hair sticking up. "I'm going to hit Caleb's gym." Caleb had set up a small gym, which would have been an office in anyone else's home. There was just enough equipment with a mat in the middle. The heavy bag was in the living room with its wood beam as part of the décor.

A short time later, Sam had his iPod buds in, keeping time to his workout on the elliptical trainer. He sensed Caleb was awake before the older hunter came into the room. As much as Sam wanted to avoid his abilities, shut them down, they were still there and aching to be used. Caleb had convinced him to keep to the basics- an open line between himself and Caleb, and also a way to track Dean if need be. The rest he would gauge on a case by case basis and make a conscious decision on the moral dilemma.

Caleb cradled a glass of orange juice. "You want some bagels? The deli on the corner will deliver for me."

Sam hadn't thought about food. They got home late and there had been no need to raid the refrigerator. He had started the day with a glass of water before starting his workout. "You are totally cool with this?"

"Yeah, I mean it's a carb, but bagels and New York are synonymous." Caleb finished off the juice. He patted his stomach. "I'll have them send over some eggs and stuff, too."

Sam shook his head at Caleb's one track mind, and his confidence. "Not the food, dude, The Triad." He wanted to call Mackland for reassurance. But, it would be intruding on their unofficial honeymoon. They hadn't gone on vacation but were planning something when things settled down - whenever that might be.

Caleb shifted the glass back and forth. "Sammy, practically our whole life has been about this time. We're ready, you're ready."

Sam shook his head. "There's so much over us. What if we don't make it?" Sam didn't want to go on as Lucifer. The fallen angel was seductive, hard to resist. Already the things the rebel angel had said were immersed in the truth.

"We can't make it this far and not make it 'til the end. Dad is right- together we can stop this." Caleb sat down on the workout bench. "I thought you learned your lesson about that?"

"I did. Dean did." They agreed not to talk about the time apart or Dean's trip into the future. There was only about going forward from where they were now. "We know, but Castiel, Michael and Lucifer?"

"Are not crashing the party." Caleb put his hand up to stop Sam from interrupting. "My brain fried a synapse about this. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Sam tried to walk gently because Caleb's amnesia had scared him. He needed Caleb to balance Dean when his brother irritated him like only Dean could do. "We're going to pretend that Lucifer is not after me?"

"Yes, because you need to agree first. Are you going to consent?" Caleb was very matter of fact.

"No." Sam shook his head.

"Moot point."

Sam had to smile at Caleb's faith. "Dean and Michael?"

Caleb put the glass down on the wood floor. "Not going to happen. I'm betting on Castiel."

The angel was determined in his mission, Sam did not know if it was for Dean or for Castiel's faith. "To find God with Dean's amulet?"

"Yes." Caleb sighed as if losing patience.

"O-kay. Preposterous possibility." Even Sam, knowing Castiel's doggedness, could not fathom how the angel could ever be in the same place as God on Earth. Logic had served him well in the past and he was reverted back to that when he could.

Caleb shrugged his shoulders but took the answer. "Makes perfect sense to me." He stood up. "I'm going to place the order; food should be here in twenty minutes."

If it was Caleb's intent to infuse Sam with a sense of calmness with the normalcy of the situation, then he was succeeding. This was them trying to get their part of normal. "Food sounds good."

In twenty minutes there was a feast delivered. They had already eaten, finished their workouts and showered by the time Dean came in the door, sweaty, wearing an urgent, determined expression.. He didn't offer a greeting, instead going to his room and bringing down his duffle, gun at the ready as he nosed the barrel between an opening in the blinds.

"What's going on?" Caleb took the other side, knife from the arm sheath revealed. Sam manned the front door at the ready for any imminent attack.

"Look out there- what do you see?" Dean asked.

"Nothing," Caleb stated.

Sam frowned and moved to the side glass, which flanked the door. He pushed the fabric covering slightly to take a peek. "Dean, there's nothing out there." Sam gnawed his lip as he thought of the possibility of the Trickster or Gabriel finding them.

Dean opened the blinds wider and pointed with the muzzle of the gun. "You don't see six kids sitting on the steps?"

Sam squinted but still could make out nothing. "No."

Dean retracted the gun, letting his arm drop to his side. "There are six kids out there that followed me home from the park."

"Deuce?" Caleb moved closer to Dean.

"They want to go home." Dean glanced at Sam. "But they are all from different places, and then I figured out that no one else at the park could see them." Dean rubbed his neck.

"You really see a bunch of kids out there?" Caleb asked.

Dean looked out the window. "Yeah, not the same kids as before, but there are six kids out there." Dean spoke slower. "They popped up at the Park, then followed me back here. No one else seemed to see them either. A lady almost called the cops because she thought I was crazy talking to some kid who wasn't there."

"Doesn't this sound a bit like The Trickster?" Sam leveled his gaze at Dean.

His brother shook his head. "I don't think Gabe is coming near us for awhile."

Sam trusted what his brother saw unless proven otherwise. So this was a hunt, and he had to treat it as such, not looking for angels in everything. "These kids want to go home? Where's home?" Sam asked.

"All different places. It's weird." Dean stepped away from the window, wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand, then sniffed the air. "Do I smell cinnamon raisin bagels? I'm being stalked by ghost kids and you're having breakfast. Nice."

"Strawberry cream cheese, too," Caleb said, gesturing for Dean to follow him into the kitchen but to leave his gun. "Relax, will ya? They can't come in because of the wards." Caleb's place was well protected, even if they did not have their own set of guards. Caleb threw Dean a kitchen towel, which Dean used to wipe himself up a bit before attacking a bagel.

"Dean, what do you mean about these kids being weird?" Sam asked, showing complete patience with the urgent matter of unseen children at the door who wanted to go to some unknown home.

"They talk funny. I mean some with accents, but some with old fashioned words. Same thing with the way some of them are dressed. It's like they're from different time periods, places, all over the U.S. . . " Dean mumbled between bites of half a bagel while smearing cream cheese on the other half.

"Nothing is getting in here for now." Caleb went to the Mister Coffee to pour himself a cup. "But, it would be nice to see what we're dealing with."

"Yeah. Why can't you guys see them?" Dean drained the pot into his mug. "I don't want to use rock salt to chase them away or hit them with some iron. I don't think they're like that."

"Is this worth the risk?" Caleb asked. More than ever, the next Knight was shoot-first-ask-questions-later. "No one sees them but you. That makes my spidey sense tingle."

"They told me an angel said I could help them." Dean looked down into his coffee cup as Sam tried to meet his gaze. "Can you _sense_ anything? Either of you?"

Sam did not reply. Caleb wanted to start accessing his abilities that had nothing to do with demon blood, but right now any ability seemed tainted. However, he couldn't be The Scholar without some psychic ability.

"I got nothing," Caleb answered after a moment.

"Maybe Joshua knows a spell that can help us," Sam said. He was trying to re-forge a relationship with the blond hunter plus show he trusted his brother. "He's still in town. It's worth a try."

****THE BROTHERHOOD***

Dean had enough time to finish breakfast, check on the kids outside, not the original ones who followed him, but the other ones, and take a shower. The run was supposed to have been for the purpose of clearing his head, instead he found himself vested in another case.

Children matching his pace, calling for attention so much so that when he stopped and argued to tell them in crude terms to leave him alone, instead of the kids dissipating he had an angry woman threatening to call the police to arrest him.

The kids remained. He had a knife on him but tempered himself in the open. "Talk," he told them. Talk they did, but it didn't make sense. They kept talking about home, their families, but not how they got to New York or what had happened to them.

Still did not make sense even after talking it over with Caleb and Sam. He hoped Josh sprinkling some stuff over Caleb's threshold would change that. It was pathetic.

Joshua was rushing into his Advisor role, already putting up a protest. "I don't think this is a good idea. There are wards set up here for a reason."

"It's only_ temporary_." Caleb stated, putting a hand under his nose to stop the waft of fumes from whatever Joshua had used. "We need to see it, too."

Joshua looked towards Dean. "Because you don't want to be left out of the club?"

Dean was in full agreement with Caleb. "The Triad, plus their Advisor, are standing right here, if we can't handle some kids then who can? Get on with it, Josh, we'll be fine."

Joshua lit a match and the herbs on the ground caught the flame and smoldered a cool blue. "Invite them in."

Dean felt a little foolish; he made sure no one was passing by the brownstone before making an absurd announcement to only people he could see. "Okay, kids on the stairs, inside, now." He watched them as they entered, and so did the other hunters as judged by their reaction.

"Damn, Deuce, this is weird." Dean didn't know if Caleb was talking about the shimmering effect around the kids' bodies or being able to see something that was at first not there, then was.

"Is that all of them?" Sam asked, corralling the kids to make sure they went into the area he had marked.

"Yep," Dean replied, after shutting the door behind the last child.

The kids looked around in awe. Sam closed the circle he had made with salt. It was large enough to allow the children to move around, but still keep the adults safe. Once the children had recovered from their initial shock, they started their lament.

"I want to go home." It was said in different ways, sometimes with an accent, but it was all the same.

Caleb winced. "Okay, we'll get you all home, but we need to know where you're from and what happened?"

"One at a time," Sam said, making a peaceful gesture with his hands.

"You," Dean picked a boy with a Red Sox hat, "start talking. What's your name? Are you from New England?"

"Maine. Portland, Maine, by the water. I'm Matty." He tipped his hat up a bit. He had light brown hair, which seemed to be a buzz cut in the midst of growing out, but frozen in its awkward state. He had blue eyes, accentuated by the shimmering around him.

Dean recognize the boy as one of the first ones from the park, . The other children had changed but their longing attitudes were the same.. Dean felt nervous, which he blamed on being in a room full of spirits that they were communicating with. This was uncommon for the hunters in general, but Dean also sensed it was the weight of more responsibility being given to him. "Matty, this I can say is a first for us, but we're going to give you guys a chance and try to help you out. Okay?"

Matty nodded.

Dean spared a glance at Caleb, who was on alert, but was not warning them of any evil.

He tried to soften the truth by making it a question. "Matty, do you know you're a spirit?"

"I know. I don't like it. None of us do." Matty looked to his other five compatriots.

"It means we died," said a little girl with a ponytail on the top of her head. "But this isn't heaven. Is it?"

"No, it's not heaven. You didn't move on," Sam explained as he shifted from foot to foot.

Caleb and Joshua looked equally uncomfortable. Dead children as mean spirits were a cruel twist of fate. Dead children as victims of the supernatural were a hunter's worst nightmare, because it served as another reminder of why most hunters had gotten into the business.

"How did you. . ." Sam started, planting his feet and keeping eye contact with Matty.

Matty shrugged his shoulders. "I started to have dreams where there was this woman, and she was like my mom only better. She was the best mom ever; let me do whatever I wanted in my dreams."

"Then one day it wasn't a dream?" Dean asked, but just having a mom would be a dream. Dean didn't need an improved version. However, he understood from when he was growing up how kids thought that other kids have had it better.

"But I didn't want this. I thought there would be music because I like music. But all we hear is that one song. . ." Matty rubbed his head.

"Over and over," the little girl with the ponytail rolled her eyes.

"How does it go?" Caleb asked, turning on his phone to make a recording.

Another little boy hummed but it did not sound like any song Dean recognized. "Anyone know that?"

No one answered so his brother continued, "You all hear music?" Sam asked, rubbing his lip.

The kids nodded. "If I had my flute I could play it for you." The little girl with the ponytail chimed in.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Caleb winked at her and it seemed as if she shimmered more for a moment.

"But if we get too far away then it all gets so loud and jumbled. It hurts." An Asian girl put her hands over her ears.

Dean shared a glance with his brother. Sam shook his head as this was unfamiliar to him, too.

"Do you know what happened? How you died?" Joshua asked after having remaining silent for so long. He accentuated each word as if they were having difficulty understanding.

"Josh, way to go for the jugular," Caleb commented.

"Ignore them, they're brothers," Dean quipped. He sensed the thrown looks between Joshua and Caleb. "But, like he said-do you know?" Dean swallowed, feeling the lump in his throat.

"I don't know. She was there in my dream and she made all these promises. It seemed like a good idea. She was so warm and told me it would all be fine," Matty explained.

The other children nodded.

"She said she loved me," an Asian girl said, who was no more than seven or eight.

Matty reached out his hand to the little girl. "I didn't know what it meant to go with her. I didn't want to leave home, my family. I want to go home."

The children huddled closer to each other. It seemed that was all they had to count on--receiving sympathy and comfort from one another. Dean felt the welling of anger at the entity who had done this to them. He was going to make this better for them. "Shrtiga?"

"It's a possibility, but one by one? That's not the M.O.," Caleb replied, cupping the back of his neck.

"What does she look like?" Joshua spoke up again with a question that did not irritate Caleb.

"Like my mom." Matty sighed.

"Me too- she has long brown hair-" the pony tailed girl added.

"Yellow hair with blue eyes, like my mom," replied another little boy.

Dean looked at the other men, then put his finger to his lips to quiet the kids. "Okay, we get it. She's very pretty, like your moms." Dean clenched his fist. His life was unfair, and there were similarities with the supernatural intruding on his life at four and these kids being tainted by the supernatural. But he was an adult and had some power to choose, while these children had been forced into a nightmare by a mother-like figure.

"And not a shrtiga, unless there is one that can change shapes," Joshua concluded their thoughts out loud.

"Have you tried to leave?" Sam asked with a quick dart of his eyes to Dean.

Matty furiously shook his head. "We can't. It hurts too much when we get too far away from where we are supposed to be."

"But you're okay now?" Dean studied the children for signs of pain.

They all nodded in response.

"So it is now or never for us to catch her," Caleb said, starting to pace.

"How many of you are there?" Dean bent down to be at their level. He had seen eleven different children so far. But now he was becoming worried the kids would be punished for being separated from their group.

Matty looked to the other children as if for verification. "A hundred of us, I think. Only a few of us know about the angel and you. We're taking turns so she doesn't notice."

Dean wanted to ask for a description of the angel, but there was too much of an audience. He had to believe it was Castiel on his quest to find God, and not Michael on his quest to find Dean. He didn't want to be reminded about Michael when he had to think about being The Guardian, too.

"Why won't he talk?" Caleb asked, gesturing to an African American boy who had remained silent.

Matty sighed with the weight of having to explain something so easy to an adult. "The longer we follow, the more we lose. I've only been here for 5 years."

Dean sympathized with the silent child. Maybe this one hadn't lost anything but was holding onto, controlling the situation by doing the one thing he could do, not talk, keep it inside before it was all lost. Dean wanted to muss his hair, but remembered they were spirits, spirits that needed to be released, not tied to this world after losing their freedom of choice.

"We need to write down where you're from and when you disappeared, as best as you can remember. Okay?" Sam fetched a yellow pad from the coffee table.

"Can you stay here or do you have to go? I don't want you guys getting into trouble." Dean was trying to pay attention to the different times and places where the children came from.

"We have to go," Matty said with a bite of his lip.

Dean kicked some of the salt to create an opening. He did not want to ask what the punishment for the infraction would be. "Try to check in with us tomorrow night. Matty, can you come back again? I'm a sucker for the Sox."

Matty touched his hat as if he had forgotten its significance. "Yeah, Billy will cover for me." Matty led the way to the door.

"Who's Billy?" Caleb asked, bringing up the rear of the group.

"My friend. He lived a block away. He's got my back."

"I get that." Dean spared a glance at Caleb. "Come by tonight. We'll be waiting for you."

Joshua opened the door for the ragtag group, then swept up his mess, placing it in a plastic bowl with a cover. Dean crooked up an eyebrow. "That's domestic of you."

"You can use this later. Don't leave it on the threshold because it makes an open door for anything supernatural." Josh handed Caleb the container.

"Recycling, impressive." Caleb smirked and shook the odd colored dust at Joshua.

Dean elbowed his brother, glad to have a light moment and some time to process a hundred spirits of children. "Aww, look, Sammy, the stepbrothers are bonding."

Caleb growled at Dean, but Dean ignored him. Caleb got to the matter at hand. "So what are we thinking? Hybrid shritga?"

Sam tapped the yellow legal pad with his pen. "It would be smart because normally a shrtiga would garner attention by going after a group of kids."

"I haven't heard of any shritiga sightings since the last one you dealt with, and when they feed on the children their form is not very motherly," Joshua commented.

The last time they had dealt with the same shritiga that had gotten to Sammy, and Dean had made up for that mistake though it took him close to twenty years for the opportunity. "Great, just what we need-smarter baddies."

"I would like to know how those kids died. New York Public Library would be a good start," Sam stated, looking to Dean for approval on his idea.

"On Fifth Avenue?" Joshua moved next to Sam.

"Josh, are you trying to make Damien jealous by bonding with Sam?" Dean joked. It would be awhile before he would stop teasing Josh and Caleb about their new step-brother status. "You two team up and see what you can find out."

"What are we going to do?" Caleb asked, crossing his arms, which Dean noticed was more of a Josh move.

"Find out about that song," Dean said. "And, this being your town, you can come up with some leads."

Caleb nodded. "We should pay Mac a visit. He's always going to the theater, symphony, all that shit. He might recognize it."

"Can we give them one day for their honeymoon?" Sam interjected, throwing his hands up in the air.

"No," both Joshua and Caleb replied at the same time.

Dean laughed and totally understood why Mac and Esme had planned the wedding secretly.

"There is no 'honeymoon'," Joshua explained. "My grandmother is staying with them, _not_ with Cullen. I think they will be fine with a visit."

Dean shook his head; this was going to be a trying case in more ways than one.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Play On

By: Tidia

Beta: MOG

Disclaimer: See part 1.

Rating: PG-13

Notes: Whoops! Almost forgot to post. Thank you Ridley for the reminder and thank you to MOG for a quick turn around on betaing this part. Thank you again for all the kind notes and alerts!

Part 3

Caleb did not like being ambushed, but that was what had happened lately. Bobby getting hurt, Michael's Sword, Lucifer's Vessel, memory loss, the Angel of Death rising, then Mac and Esme's marriage, not to mention the fact The Guardian-To-Be was having second thoughts.

Caleb was a psychic; he did not like the unexpected, he usually had forewarning . The Serenity Prayer came to mind: accept the things you cannot change. He could accept Mac and Esme's marriage because his dad would be happy. Caleb would be happy eventually too, as long as Mac met his demands. The rest he had to change.

The Winchesters had been a hard fix with time being the mending agent more than anything. They were growing into their roles as Guardian and Scholar where more was expected of them. He knew of no other hunters who had dealt with demons, angels, and tricksters who were really angels to the level they had. He expected more from them, especially Dean. Caleb stomped up the stairs to get his jacket. He came down in the same mood.

Dean waited at the door, jacket on. "You want me to drive?"

"You mind taking the train?" Caleb had already made up his mind he wanted to use the subway.

"Suit yourself." Dean shrugged.

They were quiet as they went down the train station stairs with the subway arriving to meet them as they reached the bottom step. When they exited at the stop closest to Mac's place, Dean grabbed Caleb's arm. Caleb attempted to jerk away but Dean held firm.

"What's going on with you?"

"I'm mad, and feel jerked around," Caleb answered, loving the fact that in New York the sidewalk was crowded and no one paid them any attention. "What is going on with you? You have to be The Guardian. I thought you were getting into it, wanted it."

Dean shook his head and kept on walking a slow pace, easy for Caleb to match. "Damien, it feels like I'm going to be the President of the United States for my whole life. There is a reason why there's a term limit."

"It isn't a life sentence." Caleb never thought of how long they would be The Triad just that they _would be_ The Triad. "We can be the longest running Triad, then retire and let someone else takeover."

"Who is going to want the job after me?" Dean snorted. "Have any candidates in mind?"

Caleb did not have an answer. He thought maybe Sam would have kids, maybe Dean eventually, but in the least Joshua was getting married and children would soon follow. There were others, too, younger than them they could turn to. "Not now, but The Brotherhood is going to go on. Is that what you're worried about?" He always believed The Brotherhood was bigger than its hunters.

Dean shook his head. "I get those kids, Damien. How they are stuck and want to home. I'm taking on the responsibility of stopping the apocalypse, losing my freedom, but I broke the first seal so it makes sense that I should be in this position."

Caleb scuffed his boot on the pavement. "So you and Sam are doing this out of guilt?" It wasn't what he wanted to hear.

Dean looked up to the high buildings and squinted before watching where he was walking. "I don't know if I can shoulder The Brotherhood, too. I'm not Mother Theresa, wasn't planning on being a saint… life as a sinner is way better." He smirked. "If it all goes bad then The Brotherhood will be over. Ellen and Jo _died_, Damien, and I thought we were going to buy it too."

"Being The Guardian doesn't make you a saint. And it is a triad, _three_ people. You are not alone. The Brotherhood has been around a long time, survived a lot. It is what's needed when we're facing the apocalypse. What we've been trained to step up to." Caleb wasn't talking about The Triad, but all hunters.

Dean put his head down, then tilted it up. "I want this for you, Damien. I do. I want this for Sam because now more than ever he needs it. For me, I'm damned tired of making apologies."

It went without saying that Caleb wanted it for Dean, but Dean needed to want being The Guardian for himself. "Then stop saying you're sorry, man. I can see, Sam, Bobby, Mac, everyone can see by your _actions_ that you have nothing to be sorry for. You're a leader, Deuce." Caleb gripped Dean's upper arm. "So much so that you're Michael's Sword. The Vessel."

Dean smirked. "I wish I never told you."

"You didn't. Sam told me that part."

Mac's building was up ahead, Dean stopped. "Dude, I'm going to go through with it. What choice do I have?"

Caleb let Dean enter first, wishing his friend saw he had set himself on this path of his own choosing for awhile now. Caleb gave a two finger salute, flashing his ring, to the security detail in the lobby. Dean did the same. Caleb wondered if he could convince Mac to stay at Esme's place in Virginia, a house was easier to protect, especially if a witch lived there.

Jocelyn answered the door. Caleb hoped he covered himself. He was thrown that Jocelyn had made herself comfortable so quickly where he used to feel the same instead of a bit awkward. "I am happy to see my step-grandson, but not too happy because I already have a lovely grandson." She kissed him on the cheek.

Maybe this he could get used to, he didn't want to replace Cullen, but a grandmother was totally different, a good addition. Jocelyn greeted Dean just as warmly.

Esme came out from the kitchen area. Caleb hid his pang of jealousy of seeing Esme greet him in his father's home, now their home. "Your father is in his office, but we were planning on sitting down for lunch. Can you stay for a bit? There are plenty of leftovers from last night."

"Are there any more of those scallops wrapped in bacon?" Dean asked with a fondness for food beyond hamburgers.

"Plenty and some spanakopita," Esme replied.

Dean shook his head, but followed to the dining room. "That's that spinach triangle- Sam likes those."

Jocelyn hooked her arm around Caleb's elbow. "I guess you're staying for lunch."

Mac was happy to see them, even though they had parted less than twenty-four hours earlier. However, he hadn't been spending much time in New York- he had only spent time in with Mac when he had amnesia. Then Caleb realized that happiness was more-his father should have been married a long time ago. He felt guilty for holding his dad back. He greeted his father with a hug, which Mac did not seem surprised by. "I'm glad you boys came by. Ethan and Elijah have confirmed they can attend the ceremony. I thought they should be there because of Gideon."

"That'll be great," Dean said flatly. Caleb glared at him, but it wasn't enough for Dean to add some enthusiasm. They took a seat at the table and began passing the smaller trays of food around the table.

"What brings you boys by? Where's Sam?" Mac asked with Esme on his right.

"Deuce brought a gig to my doorstep," Caleb replied and they explained how Dean had been followed by the children. Caleb fished the phone from his pocket and hit play on the recording.

Mac smiled, and placed his hand on Esme's giving it a visible squeeze. "It's Mozart's Requiem. I would have thought you boys would have recognized it… it was one of Pastor Jim's favorites."

Caleb thought about the classical music in Jim's home that the preacher used to set the mood for writing a sermon when he wasn't inspired by one of his boys' antics. "Yeah, well, they all blended together."

"My taste ran a little different than Jim's." Dean smirked. "I used to think it was torture."

"It was Mozart's last symphony," Esme commented. Her plate was filled with a variety of the food they had eaten last night, but in very small quantities.

"Which he wrote under mysterious circumstances." Mac completed the sentence.

"How mysterious?" Dean put down his fork to listen.

Mac raised his brows up and down to create playful suspense. If Caleb did not know better he would have thought there was no impending apocalypse with the lightness at the table. "Not our kind of supernatural. He did not know the patron who requested it. Allegedly while he was writing it he had thoughts that it would be his last symphony."

"It was finished for him, more or less, by Sussmayr," Jocelyn chimed in. It seemed they all had knowledge about classical music, but Caleb did not know if it revealed anything about their case.

"Do you need any help?" Mac asked, readjusting the napkin on his lap. "I have a few issues, but I only need a couple of hours. . ."

Dean pulled the napkin from his lap to place it near the dish to say he was finished, but Caleb saw untouched food on his plate. "No, I think we got it. Sam and Joshua are at the library, but can we talk to you for a minute?"

In a fluid motion, Esme put down her wine glass while Jocelyn pushed away from the table. Caleb stood up to pull out Jocelyn's chair and let her out; Mac did the same for Esme. "We'll take care of the dishes," Esme said with a smile. "Make some coffee and bring out the dessert."

Caleb could sense Dean's explosion, and tried to head it off, but was too late.

"How do you expect us to do this?" Dean motioned to the surroundings. "You're here in an office. The Impala is my office and I've got to be out there-"

Mac leaned forward. "You have support, and this administrative stuff I can still handle until you are more settled. Bobby can help too." Mac relaxed back. "I don't want this to be overwhelming for you, and it won't. I promise. But, I can't be everywhere and a Triad is needed _out there_."

Dean fell back into the chair. "Mac, I know you're happy and I don't want to take that away from you-"

Caleb had stopped listening to the conversation. As much as he wanted to be a part of it, he was forced to concentrate on what appeared in his mind's eye. Faintly he heard his father ask, "Caleb, are you all right?"

He was in a frilly bedroom: all pinks, purples and princesses. Sleeping, with only her head above the sheets, was a blonde haired girl. Caleb could hear a humming, the same Mozart song, and he understood he was there as the monster to take the little girl with him. The being needed the little girl to continue on. With a gasp, as a young looking female hand reached out to the girl, he disconnected and was back in Mac's apartment sitting in the dining room chair looking up at the ceiling. His neck hurt.

"Son, are you with us?"

Caleb brought his head back to a neutral position and gave his father a nod. A cup of tea was placed in front of him with a pat on his shoulder by Esme. He usually did not feel embarrassed by his visions, but on the other hand, he usually did not have an audience. Jocelyn peeked out from the kitchen and winked at him. He cleared his throat. "Thank you," he said as he carefully picked up the teacup. He hadn't realized Mac owned teacups. Growing up with Mac had been all about mugs.

"What did you see?" Dean was having a cup of coffee in a mug Caleb recognized.

Caleb drained the tea cup and the mild side effects he usually got from a vision were gone, even the crick in his neck. He stared at the dregs for a moment puzzling at the tea's content. "We don't have much time. She's going to strike soon."

"She? It's a woman?" Mac seemed surprised.

"Yeah, on the younger side," Caleb explained. "There was nothing sexual going on, like a siren or a succubus, but she was taking the girl's life essence."

"Are shrtigas always male?" Dean asked, finishing his cup of coffee.

"No, not necessarily, but they always come to the person in a cloaked and bony form." Mac rubbed his chin.

Caleb recognized his father's pensive side, which he used to be able to satisfy before, but not since he had to keep The Brotherhood going.

"It fits in better with what the kids were telling us about whatever it is looking like their moms." Caleb reiterated what he and Dean had mentioned before.

"Sam and Joshua should have some information on how the kids died. That should give us a lead." Dean stood up. "We're going to get going. Are you up for it?"

Caleb nodded. The vision left him no worse for the wear. "Let's go. Dad, we'll tell you what we come up with and if we need any help."

They both said their goodbyes to Mac, Esme and Jocelyn. Esme gave them a wrapped package of food. "Take this back to Joshua and Sam."

Dean carried the brown paper bag to the elevator. "I could get used to this."

Caleb agreed. They were sorely missing a woman's touch, having gone for so long without motherly figures. An emotion of fierce protectiveness came over Caleb. He gestured to the bag, and then leveled his gaze at his friend as they boarded the elevator. "Mac is the happiest I have ever seen him. He should spend some time enjoying life with Esme. I think we all owe him that." They went through the lobby again with a scant wave to the security guard.

Dean gave a quick glance to the elevator they had just come down. "We do. I do. Your dad has always come through for me and Sammy." Dean gave a curt nod. "While you were off on your side trip to vision land he said he'd still handle a lot of the day to day activities." Dean rolled his eyes. "I hate paperwork."

Caleb smirked. "You've never done paperwork. But, I'm glad we're on the same page when it comes to Mac." Caleb moved to take the bag from Dean. "What do you think is in there?"

Dean crinkled his nose. "Probably those spinach things Sam likes. I swear, Sam's her favorite."

"Dude, I think her son is her favorite, but I am right up there." Caleb put his hand up high. "What's there not to like?"


	4. Chapter 4

Play On

by: Tidia

Beta: Mog

Ratings/Disclaimer: See part 1

Notes: Tis the season, a busy time where there is baking and much merriment and forgetting to post fic. Thank you for the kind reviews! It seemed like I surprised you guys with a plot :) Enjoy!

Part 4

Sam was impressed with Joshua's knowledge of the New York City transit system. He wanted to ask how Joshua gained the knowledge, had Carolyn taught him? But that would go beyond the conversation of hunt; which had been the limit of their discussions since they had left Caleb's home for the library.

Dean's phone call sent Sam to find Joshua to tell him they were requested back with the information they had found. Sam's data had led to an interesting pattern, as had Joshua's research.

As they were waiting for the subway there was a lull in conversation, leaving Sam with an opportunity to make things less uncomfortable with Joshua.

"I'm sorry about Ruby, about everything else. I was wrong. There really aren't any excuses I can make." It wasn't sufficient; he knew redemption would be difficult, maybe impossible. He would take the hard road to make amends. Lucifer had promised him an easy out but Sam knew there would be little in his life that was easy for some time to come.

"Apology accepted," Joshua said.

The curt reply caught Sam off guard. "That's it?" The subway wound to a stop in front of them.

They boarded but Joshua stood by the opposite door, ignoring the empty seats. Sam stood next to him and repeated himself. "Really? That's it?"

He'd decided to take the path of AA, taking one step at a time. He was surprised; it was easier than he thought.

The train got on its way as Joshua replied. "I think I'm the least of your worries. You disappointed your brother." He gripped the bar and made some space between himself and Sam, seeming to be uncomfortable with the conversation.

"Dean? He's forgiven me." Sam had slightly raised his voice, then brought it back under control although it didn't matter. No one was paying attention to them.

"Like Pastor Jim forgave me? Or my father? Or wait- think how long it took Dean to accept me." Joshua shook his head. He shifted slightly as if realizing he had made a mistake. "I don't mean to be cruel. It was the worst secret that Dean held you up as the best of The Winchesters. He was proud of the man he raised."

Dean had apologized to Sam for what he had done wrong and blamed himself, but at the time Sam had not disagreed with his brother's self-criticism. Sam wanted Dean to be as proud of him as _he_ was of Dean. He knew he still had to work on it, the thinly veiled comments and jokes were still there; however, Caleb and Dean wanted to sweep his major discretions under the proverbial rug.

"I think that you're the right choice as an Advisor," Sam said.

Joshua gestured it was their stop. They prepared for the doors to open. "I'll accept the compliment, but I believe you'll be a challenging Triad."

"I think we already are," Sam replied as they exited onto the concrete. At least Joshua thought he should be part of The Triad. "So you really haven't accepted my apology."

Joshua shook his head as he climbed the first steps. "You are a PR man's nightmare. There is no spin I can put on addicted to demon blood, forsook your family to gallivant with a demon trollop."

Sam nodded and followed behind Joshua into the sunlight at sidewalk level. At a loss of what to say, he prepared to repeat his apology.

"But, Sam, give me longer than a few months. It's amazing how, in time, there'll be another big thing to make what you did insignificant." Joshua kept his gaze straight ahead, adopting the New York habit of not making eye contact with passersby.

There was only one thing that came to Sam's mind which would make what he did look insignificant. "Something big like the end of the world?"

Joshua leveled his gaze at Sam with raised eyebrows. "Or the accomplishments of a new Triad."

Sam could see himself having mutual respect with Joshua in the near future. Though sometimes difficult, Sam had tried to support Joshua as he got older and grew to appreciate the other hunter's talents. They did not have far to walk and Sam kept the large envelope of information in his grip. He had forgotten the key, but sensed Caleb and Dean inside. He winced at the unintentional use of his abilities.

Joshua rang the bell. Dean answered the door with a curt, "Your mom sent leftovers."

They followed Dean into the kitchen where a laptop was opened and playing the song the children had hummed.

"Pastor Jim used to play that," Sam said as soon as he recognized the tune.

"Requiem by Mozart," Joshua added. "That's the song the children hummed?"

Dean gestured to the food laid out on the kitchen table. "Mac told us. How come you guys didn't remember that when they were here?"

"It didn't sound the same," Sam replied with a confirming look by Joshua. "It's a hard song to hum."

Caleb was having a cup of coffee. The Mister Coffee seemed to be working overtime in the corner. "What did you two find out? 'cause the clock is ticking. She's going after a little girl next."

"She?" Sam asked. Certainty would add to the information they had gathered at the library.

"I had a vision, and that part was clear," Caleb explained, resting his hip on the granite counter.

With one hand, Sam pulled from the envelope the sheets of paper they had printed out, while his other hand reached for an appetizer. He loved the triangle ones stuffed with spinach. "Well, we got some info on the kids. They died of a sudden virus that had them spiking a high fever. Fine one day, dead the next. Spread all over the country so no one could see a pattern."

Sam held the triangle appetizer in his hand. He put it back on the plate, unable to eat it at the moment.

"Kind of sounds like the swine flu," Caleb remarked.

"It's not—this comes on too suddenly, unnaturally so in healthy children." Joshua helped himself to a cup of coffee.

"Anything else that's similar?" Dean asked.

"Music," Joshua answered, pulling out a few sheets of paper which had some obituaries on it.

"Music?" Caleb leaned forward and muted the computer's volume.

Joshua pointed to the parts he had circled. "They were all taking music lessons. A lot of the obits mentioned child prodigies."

"Same instrument?" Dean asked, pulling one of the articles closer.

"No." Sam bounced with the thrill of the connection. "_But_ they all mentioned having a private music teacher who was heartbroken over the loss of a gifted student." He pointed to several spots he had highlighted in yellow.

Dean whistled and Sam took that as a compliment of work done well. "Do we want to track down some of these parents and get a description?" Dean asked.

"I'll look into it," Joshua said, taking the papers, then taking a plate with some of the leftovers to the other room.

Sam noted that Joshua had left him the spanikopita.

Dean knocked on the wood kitchen table, garnering Caleb and Sam's attention. "So if I had a child prodigy where would I go around here to find the best music teachers?"

Caleb smiled. "In New York City, it would be Juilliard. I would want someone from Juilliard to teach my child prodigy."

"What about that school in _Fame_?" Sam recalled a late night when he was unable to sleep. His brother didn't respond, instead glaring at him. "What? I downloaded it from bit torrent."

Dean cleared his throat. "I think we should find out if Juilliard has any new music teachers."

"I'm on it," Caleb volunteered. "A phone call from a friendly reporter doing a story."

Dean pushed the dish towards Sam. "Eat your snack, Dude." Dean went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Coke, putting it by Sam's dish.

Sam nodded his thanks as he ate the leftovers and washed them down with the soda.

"_Fame_, Sam? Really?" Dean shook his head, taking a seat across from Sam.

Sam did not rise to his brother's teasing. He especially did not want to admit that in the early days of them being back together when Dean returned from Hell, he felt lonely with Dean in the room. Downloading movies via bit torrent had been a good distraction.

He finished off the Coke and quickly washed the plate, placing it in the dish drainer to dry. "We could help Joshua," Sam suggested.

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "I'm delegating."

Caleb came back into the room, slipping his cellphone into his pocket. "We've got two new teachers. Female teachers." The laptop was still on the table. Sam watched Caleb open two windows and, within seconds, bring up a staff biography with photograph on each one.

Dean tilted his head. "Both are kinda plain."

Joshua came into the room, notes written on one of the sheets of paper he held.

"Both fit the description of a dark-haired, petite woman," Joshua stated. "I got through to parents of two of the most recently deceased kids. That was the best description."

"What do you want to do? We can follow them." Caleb suggested.

"I'm sticking around for Matty," Dean stated, looking away from Sam.

"We might not have to play stalker," Sam replied, before pointing to the computer screen. "See if Ethan can find out where these two were before New York City. If it matches up with where one of the kids was. . ."

"Then we have her," Caleb finished, giving Sam a clap on the back. "I'll call him and pass along the names."

Joshua put the papers back on the kitchen table next to the laptop. "I'll be heading out, dinner plans with Caroline. Do you need me to stay in the city? Because I was going to head to North Carolina before getting to the farm for the ceremony."

"You can go," Dean said. "We'll call if we need anything. Thanks for the help." He stretched out his hand and Joshua grasped it. "We'll see you in a couple of days."

Caleb gave a half wave while the phone was to his ear. Sam put his hand up to wave to, but Joshua put his hand out. Sam accepted the handshake for the peace offering it was. "Thanks."

When Caleb finished he announced he was still going to track down the women to see if he could get a feeling from either one of them. Sam remained with his brother. They wanted to research exactly what type of creature they were dealing with, find a name for the hunt. Sam had some ideas and began researching in the strange quietness of Caleb's home. "Rats!"

Dean looked up from where he sat on the couch, leaning over the coffee table with another laptop. "Something wrong?"

Sam typed another search string into Google. "No, I wonder if the rat population has spiked."

"O-kay." Dean sighed. "I'll bite. What do rats have to do with a music teacher gone wrong?" With a gesture, he encouraged his brother to explain.

"It's like the Pied Piper, or in this case, the Pied Piperess," Sam revealed. "I've found different stories from more than a few western European cultures, but they're all pretty much the same."

Dean questioned his brother's line of discovery. "There've been _that_ many towns who hired a piper to deal with rat infestations before squelching on the deal so the piper took their kids?"

"Well, obviously not exactly that, but the same idea. An individual who claims to have been wronged clears the debt by taking a child or children." Sam tapped the computer screen. "In each version of the story there's a link to music and rats. We all know the Pied Piper of Hamlin, but there's also the Mountain Man of Mulhouse, or the Sea Widow of Oslo… she turned her village's children into rats and lured them into the ocean with flute music after fishermen refused to risk searching for _her_ children who'd been swept off a rock during a violent storm."

Dean's look of doubt faded somewhat. "Are you sure it's not flute related? I mean, think about it, that kind of evil would explain Jethro Tull."

"C'mon, man, seriously, what do you think?"

"All right, so you may be onto something. But I'm not checking the sewers for rats, Sammy." Dean leaned back against the leather couch and stretched. "Maybe it's a job for The Knight?"

Sam did not think Caleb would appreciate being sent into the New York City sewer system. "We don't have to check the sewers. We can call the health department." Sam pulled out his cell phone; calling the number he had Googled after not finding an on-line list of complaints.

The lady at the health department was a bit surly but did confirm that rat complaints had increased in the last week. Even before he hung up, Sam's smile gave away the fact that his theory was confirmed.

Dean stood. "Dude, that's cool and all, but how do we kill it… her…it, whatever? And what happens to the extra rats?"

"I don't know if, once we kill her, the rats will disappear," Sam replied.

"Guess exterminators will be busy," Dean quipped. "Maybe Bobby will have some information that can help us."

"You think he'd be able to get a hold of anything while at Cullen's?" Sam knew Dean wanted the distraction from waiting for Matty.

"Doesn't he always say that his mind is the biggest supernatural encyclopedia?" Dean said with false levity as he retrieved his phone from the coffee table to call Bobby.

Despite Dean wandering around the room and back and forth from the kitchen, Sam could overhear the entire overextended conversation. When two men talk about how lovely the bride looked and how good the canapés tasted--it is a reaching conversation. Sam didn't know his brother even knew the word canapés. But, Dean had been occupied for fifteen minutes.

Dean closed his phone. "He said he'd look into it, but off hand he's never heard of a Pied Piperess or how to kill one."

Sam just nodded.

Dean went back to the couch with a sigh. Sam went back to research, until interrupted a few minutes later by his brother.

"Text from Damien. He's coming back with some pizzas." With a cup of room-temperature coffee as his companion, Dean moved to take up a position in front of the window. It was starting to become dark out.

"Is Matty out there?" Sam asked, pushing aside his research.

"Yeah, he's coming up the street now." Dean moved to the door. Joshua had already put his special dust over the threshold before he left with strict instructions on how to care for the spell. Sam still wondered why Dean was the only one able to see the kids.

Dean opened the door, and once Matty was inside he was revealed to Sam again.

"I came back," the boy announced to them. They were not trapping him in a salt circle, but he still remained in a limited area.

Dean stood in front of him. "Any problems?"

"No, Billy's covering for me. The others stayed behind- we thought it would be better that way," Matty shrugged.

"Matty, do you know the story about the Pied Piper?" Sam asked, and when Matty nodded he continued. "We think the same thing happened to you kids. You were lured by the music."

The boy frowned. "That story did not have a good ending. The parents never saw their kids again."

"Matty, I promise we'll get you to a better place, but we have to ask- did you have a music teacher? Play an instrument?" Dean bent down, and got closer to Matty, unlike before when he was prevented by the protection circle.

"Yeah, I played the guitar. Billy and I went for private lessons with Miss Connie."

Dean looked up at Sam.

"What was Miss Connie like?" Sam asked.

"She had long dark hair. She had a really pretty voice. Sometimes she sang with us."

Sam nodded. This Pied Piperess was not only using music, but coming to them in the familiar form of their mothers after first making their acquaintance and gaining their trust.

His brother was about to reach out and ruffle Matty's hair, but stopped. "We have some ideas, and maybe by tomorrow we can finish it. Sounds good?"

Matty nodded. "I should go."

Dean put his hand up. "One more question—the angel that you talked to- was he wearing a trench coat?"

Matty tucked his head back like turtle. "A what? I don't know."

"Okay, what was he wearing?" Dean tried again.

"He had a white collar," Matty put a hand on his neck, "and silver hair. He said you would help."

Sam could not hide his startled look. He glanced at Dean who shook his head. "Okay, thanks, kid, get going."

Sam broke from his reverie and opened the door for Matty. Dean stayed by the door until Sam assumed he could no longer see the boy. Then Sam picked up the dust and placed it again in the Tupperware container.

Dean broke the silence. "You going to say anything?"

"Sounded like Pastor Jim." Sam leaned against the wall after picking up the dust.

"Yeah, I know." Dean headed into the kitchen and pulled two beers from the refrigerator, wordlessly passing one to his brother who had followed him..

Caleb found them nursing their beers as he entered, balancing three pizza boxes. "Thanks for the help." He put the boxes on the table, not noticing the awkwardness, and grabbed a bottle of Sam Adams from the refrigerator. "Well, I got nothing. What did Matty say?"

"He and his best bud took music lessons," Dean replied, then took a long pull, before putting the empty in the sink.

"Well, that's confirmation," Caleb answered as he opened the top box and retrieved a wide slice, folding its edges inward for easier eating.. "What else?"

"Are you going to tell him?" Sam asked, putting down his beer and stopping his brother from going into the pizza box. Sam met Dean's scrutiny.

Dean sighed. "Jim was the one who told the kids."

It took a moment for Caleb to catch up. He stopped chewing, then swallowed. "Jim? Pastor Jim? Our Jim?"

"Yeah." Dean ignored the pizza and uncomfortably crossed his arms.

"I wasn't expecting that," Caleb said. He looked thoughtful, then took a swig of beer. "Mac invited us over to hear about the hunt. Do you want to go?"

"No, man." Dean shook his head. "And I'd rather not tell him about Jim right now if that's okay with you."

Sam nodded. This was confirmation that Dean was being guided; they were all being guided, by Jim. It gave finality to the decision that had been set into motion. "Maybe some poker?"

Dean groaned. "I am never going to hear the end of that am I?"

Sam never had an affinity for poker until playing with the witch for Dean's life. Then he realized the importance of the skill. After polishing off the pizza and a few hands of poker intermingled with reminiscing about the farm, they called it a night at midnight to retire to their own rooms

A few hours later, Sam awoke with a thought he could not let go. Discovering a history of the creature was one problem solved, killing it was another. He was also worried about the rats. So he retrieved his laptop from downstairs and left the door slightly ajar when he returned to his room.

His attention got diverted when his brother walked past the door. Dean turned towards the open crack in the door. "Hey, what are you doing up?"

"Some research. What about you?"

"I had to take a leak." Dean rubbed a hand down his face.

There was something more to Dean being awake than just his bladder, but Sam did not know how to pry.

"What are you researching?"

"How to kill that thing." Sam tapped the pen he was holding against the edge of the laptop.

"Good job, but don't stay up too late." Dean backed into the hallway.

"Dean, I'm not apologizing," Sam took a deep breath, feeling as though Pastor Jim was watching over him. "But I want to say that I let you down, and you can count on me. I'm going to make it up to you or die trying." It had taken Joshua years to gain forgiveness and trust from Dean, Sam hoped that being Dean's brother put him at an advantage.

Dean gave a curt nod. "Get some sleep, Sammy."


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Play On

Disclaimer: Part 1

Beta: Mog

Notes: Ever feel like you are living in a vortex? What a weird day. Happy Holidays to all-keep safe and merry. Thank you for all your kindness in being wonderful readers.

Part 5

Winning a few rounds of poker had helped Dean's ego, especially after dealing with the witch, but had done little to ease his mind. The case, Jim, the impending ceremony—it all swirled through his mind to create dreams about his mom.

He hadn't dreamed about her in a long time. It was like what the kids said, it was his mother making promises of something better. Something better could have been defined as any situation which didn't have Lucifer and Michael. Thankfully, he had The Brotherhood and his family.

Dean was contemplating the epiphany when Sam called out to him when he saw Dean in the hallway bed after he had been unable to fall back asleep. Dean thought a glass of milk could help. Sam was still up trying to prove himself, and Dean was not going to admonish him for staying up late. Sam was on a journey to redemption, and Dean was glad Sam was getting that chance.

The glass of milk helped him get back to sleep until his cell phone rang with Ethan on the other side.

_"Morning, Sunshine."_

Through Dean's bleary eyes, the alarm clock read just past six a.m.. "Damn, what time in the morning is it in Texas?" He moved up further on the pillow, not getting up, but feeling able to hold some sort of conversation.

_"I never went to bed."_

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Dean perked up a little bit, although Ethan and he did not have a relationship where they talked about notches in the bedpost, he still couldn't help but ask.

Ethan laughed. "We got the bad guy."

Dean relaxed back in bed. "But didn't get the girl."

_"Pretty much." _Ethan sighed audibly._ "I did get your info though." _Dean's memory was refreshed. Caleb had called Ethan earlier. _"Tamara Fieldings… from a small town in Oklahoma, graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, did some touring in the U.S. before playing with some symphonies in the Midwest. Shefollowed her husband to California and worked in a local high school, but they're divorced and she's now in New York City."_

"And the other one?"

_"From Montreal, Canada, went to the Paris Conservatoire, stayed in France with a small orchestra, then back to Canada, then New York City."_

Dean did not see a pattern in either one. They may have the wrong women. "That doesn't help. I don't think it matches up to any of the information we collected."

_"It's actually too pat, like what drug dealers invent. Nothing of substance. No one is that perfect."_

"So you're saying concentrate on Nancy Pichler."

_"That's what I would do." _Dean detected a yawn behind the statement._ "I'm counting this as my gift."_

"Gift for what?" Dean closed his eyes. He was going to get back to sleep.

_"The new Triad. Don't we have to pay tribute?"_

"What?" His eyes were wide open now that his brain had translated what he'd heard. "No." Dean wanted this to be quiet. This was not like going to Hef's mansion for his birthday.

_"But there's still a party afterwards. . ."_

Dean groaned. This was worse than the demons being after him because he had a big Michael X on him. "There is?"

_"According to Mac. . ."_

"Fine, I gotta go." He was going to have to talk to Mac. He didn't realize there was going to be a celebration in light of what they were facing. Dean tried to get back to sleep, tossing and turning in 500 thread count sheets. He hated to part with the comfortable bed but he wasn't getting back to sleep with thoughts of a party with hunters marking their ascension. It was weird.

With the other occupants resting, Caleb's house was quiet. Dean made coffee while he searched the kitchen for food to make into a proper breakfast instead of ordering from the deli. An hour later he had a pile of pancakes as well as bacon on paper towels, sucking up the residual grease.

"Sweetheart, is that freshly squeezed?" Caleb entered, taking one of the three glasses of juice on the table.

"No," Dean replied, placing a few pancakes and a lot of syrup on his plate. "Did you know that after we become The Triad there's a party?"

Caleb coughed as the juice went down the wrong way. Dean was happy he had caught his friend by surprise. Despite still standing at the counter, he took a big forkful of pancakes, cutting through three layers.

"Who said?" Caleb asked when he had recovered.

"Ethan. He called and said to take a look at Nancy Pichler as our perp." Dean followed the pancakes with a gulp of coffee.

"Perp? Picking up that cop jargon? Needs some donuts?" Caleb grabbed a plate and piled it with bacon and pancakes.

"Shut up," Dean said with a mouthful of bacon, waving his fork at Caleb when Sam came down the stairs, hair mussed and sticking out at the sides.

"Point that somewhere else." Sam marched to the coffee pot, ignoring the other food. His brother needed a caffeine fix first, especially after staying up late to research. It reminded Dean of when Sam was younger and studying for a big test he just had to do well on.

"Hey, Sammy, what did you find last night? Because Ethan gave us a lead." Dean took a seat, using his foot he pushed out the other chair for Sam to sit.

Sam scratched the top of his head before picking a piece of bacon from the plate. "I think cutting off her head might do it."

"Isn't that the default for most things?" Caleb took a seat.

"For good reason," Sam replied as he filled his plate and sat down, too.

"So," Caleb said, waving his piece of bacon, "how do we want to go after Nancy?"

"Pay her a visit." Dean had finished his breakfast and was placing the dish in the sink.

"Does she have office hours?" Sam interjected. "I mean she probably has them listed on the school's website."

Caleb hit the back of Sam's head, not really messing up his hair at all. "Way to use the brain, Einstein."

Dean smiled at the old nickname. He started to make his way to the doorway. He needed to take a shower to get the smell of pancakes off of him. "I cooked, you two clean."

"I think it's a job for The Knight," Sam replied and Dean thought he heard the scuffing of chairs and the beginnings of a wrestling match.

A bang on the bathroom door after a half hour told him to hurry up. Professor Nancy Pichler had late morning office hours. They had missed morning traffic to get to Lincoln Center where Juilliard was located, but construction in the area made pedestrian traffic heavier.

"They modernized the Revson Fountain," Caleb announced, pausing by the splashing water.

"You're geeking out, aren't you?" Dean bumped his friend's shoulder to get him moving. Sam was already a few steps ahead.

"Totally." Caleb moved his head to each of the different buildings. "Six different architects worked here."

Dean looked at the buildings and how they differed, especially where they were adding grass to a low roof, but this wasn't his interest. He wasn't a city boy with its stifling cement.

Juilliard was straight ahead, and they were not questioned when they entered the building. Looking on the map, they easily found Nancy's office. There was a row of private offices some with a nameplate, some with a plastic card with multiple names on the door. Nancy's door was one with a laminated card on it. The door was slightly ajar with a faint tinkling noise emanating from inside.

Dean knocked and entered at the same time, while Sam and Caleb followed. The room was the size of a large closet and barely held the three men.

A petite blonde woman turned from the computer. "Can I help you?" She studied them with a soft frown, causing her eyebrows to turn up slightly. "Are you in my classes?"

Dean's attention was grasped by the open music box with a ballerina twirling inside in time to the music. The music was the Mozart symphony that the children had told them about. The box itself looked old, dark wood with an intricate pattern he tried to memorize, but kept getting lost and having to restart.

"No, ma'am, we're not," Sam replied smoothly. "We're interested in forming-"

"A jazz trio," Caleb added.

Dean frowned at Caleb's choice. He would not have chosen jazz.

She tilted her head and her long hair fell to the side. She gave them a small smile. "Well, I think you should speak to –"

"You," Dean interjected, pulling his attention from the ornate music box although it was difficult. "Because of your reputation."

"My reputation?" Nancy asked in a soothing tone, one which confused him, taking away his thoughts against this woman. "Why don't you all take a seat so we can talk?"

Sam immediately took one of two chairs in the office. When Caleb took the other, Dean was left with a compulsion to fulfill Nancy's invitation, but he was forced to settle with leaning against the wall.

"You have a reputation of teaching music to children," Sam answered.

"Yes, because I love children." She blinked and Sam seemed to blink in unison with her. "Do you know some of the children that I have taught?"

A haze seemed to descend before Dean's eyes, softening the edges of the room. When he studied Nancy she looked familiar, reminiscent of someone. Dean fell into a lull where he wanted to blurt out Matty's name, but kept his mouth tight as he felt the need to protect the children and heed their warning.

"N-no, just word of mouth." Caleb fought the answer, and Dean was relieved for a moment.

Nancy stood. She was wearing a light pink dress, which flared out from her waist in soft folds. "What are your names?" She spoke lovingly, like a mother to her child..

Sam's eyes darted to Dean, then to Caleb. "I'm Sam, that's Caleb and my brother, Dean."

Dean nodded his head wanting to please her and hoping she would say his name.

"Why are you here?"

"Because we're hunters," Dean replied. She walked over to him and placed her hand against his cheek.

"You're a good boy, Dean."

"No!" Caleb abruptly darted up, pulling Sam up with him. "Stop it!"

Sam tried to wiggle out of Caleb's grasp. "But I want to stay. . ." Sam whined.

Dean noticed the ruckus but still felt the warmth of her hand. Yet Caleb wanted his attention, Dean blinked.

"Deuce, she's not your mom. You hear me; she's not your mom or my mom."

He felt a wave of nausea when the haze lifted for a moment. The hand against his cheek did not belong to his mother, but to a stranger. Dean pushed her away and slammed the music box closed, stifling the ballerina mid-turn as he rushed out behind Caleb and Sam.

Dean took one last look back at Nancy, seeing her for who she was and not what she represented. They made purposeful strides down the hall until they were outside, past the fountain and mingling with the crowd. Finally, they stopped against a building.

"What the hell was that?" Dean asked. He glanced to his brother. "She reminded me of mom, just like those kids said. . ."

"It did look like her. From my dreams from before. . ." Sam didn't continue, which meant they were from his time in detox. Sam had told Dean about their mother's visitation, hallucination, support of her son. In the throes of panic, Sam wanted his mother's reassurance and unconditional love. When Sam had met their mother at the house in Lawrence he held on to the ghost who had saved him, sacrificed herself for him.

Caleb shook his head. "She was like my mom, dark hair-"

"Blonde," Dean and Sam said at the same time.

"Shit," Caleb replied, wiping a hand down his mouth.

Dean gestured for them to start walking, the waves of people around them reminded him too much of the stifling, cloying air of Nancy's tiny office.

When they had the sidewalk to themselves Sam commented, "Well, good news is we figured out who our Pied Piperess is, bad news is that she knows we're after her, and got to us enough that she reminded us of our moms."

"Did you catch that music box? The song?" Dean asked, itching for a pencil and paper to sketch what he remembered.

"That has to have something to do with it," Caleb remarked. "We still have to follow her, find the girl who she's after."

"So let's go back now," Sam said.

"And do what?" countered Dean. "Three guys drag a teacher off campus? Or maybe just whack her head off there in her office? She's smart enough to not have been caught yet; let's hope our brilliant Stooges act back there didn't spook her into disappearing."

"He's right," Caleb said, "maybe a little breathing room will get her feeling cocky."

Dean stopped. They were a distance away. No one was following them. "We're going to have to split up. We have to take her out and the music box to be sure." He looked up to find they were near a café. He could use a coffee to cobble a plan together and caffeinate his mind to distract him from thinking about his mother.

After his black coffee, Sam's latte and Caleb's espresso, they returned to Lincoln Center. Dean thought Sam was interested in the cloak and dagger stuff as much as Mac. They had split up in Lincoln Center, each taking a different point, keeping watch at the doors of Juilliard for Nancy Pichler to make her exit. They needed to find her student, the little girl who was her next victim, and take care of the music box.

She exited, wearing a dark coat covering her dress, which Dean realized was reminiscent of the bathrobe he last saw his mother wearing. Sam gave him a nod and picked up after her as did Caleb. Dean was going back to her office for the music box.

For a school based on music, there was a limit on the sound. He wondered if they had invested in significant soundproofing. Dean walked confidently, as if he was supposed to be there. He came to Nancy's closed door.

He kept the lock picking tools covered by his body, popping the lock in fifteen seconds. He closed the door quietly behind him, studying the office. Dean saw the music box where it had been before, but did not rush to take it, making sure to extend his senses. He didn't have Sam and Caleb's psychic abilities, but he had been hunting since he was ten, and learned never to rush into a situation. There were also possible clues about Nancy Pichler. He went to her desk first, skimming the top, opening the drawers, but finding nothing personal.

The music box was still there, and he tucked it under his jacket, feeling the warm wood against his ribs. As he exited the school he called Sam. "I've got it. How's it going for you guys?"

_"We're about ten minutes away, typical condo building but Caleb says it's a place she can't afford on a college professor's salary."_

"Does he think it's the victim's place?" If she lived in a high-rise however there could be an issue of confirming and getting a visual.

_"He's going to check it out."_

Thankfully this was Caleb's town and he could maneuver around people better here. Twenty plus floors with security involving high-end kids was complicated. Dean had a momentary flashback to his maternal grandfather when he had come to take Sammy away. "Okay, I'll call you when I'm done and we can meet up."

In broad daylight in New York City, Dean could not destroy the music box the way he wanted to. He headed towards Caleb's residence. He wrinkled his nose at the subway system, recalling the map from memory to know where to get off.

It was strange to go into Caleb's home without Caleb being present. The space felt empty without the warm energy he associated with his friend. Dean searched a few cupboards before locating what he was after and making his way to the small, postage stamp-sized backyard. Into the metal trashcan he dropped the music box with a heavy clunk, squirted the lighter fluid and dropped a match.

He watched it burn, listening for anything unnatural, but there was nothing but the smell of butane and burning wood. Dean texted Sam to find out if there was any reaction with Nancy Pichler.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Play on 6/7

By: Tidia

Beta: Mog (yay!)

Disclaimer: See part 1

Notes: One more part left! Did I mention how crazy December is? Happy New Year To All. Here is to an incredible 2010.

Part 6

Sam wished it had been as easy as destroy the music box and the Pied Piperess would disappear. Nearly an hour earlier Caleb had left Sam outside the building, disappearing from Sam's limited sight as he was waved upstairs after talking his way past security.

They needed to see if the girl was the one from Caleb's vision. Sam had texted him about the destroyed music box. With Caleb's reply came a wave of worry for Sam, stilled only by the fact that he could feel that Caleb was calm.

**'Lesson is over. She's on the move.'**

Sam called his brother. "She's fine. The music box wasn't connected. I'm going to follow her."

_'When you get to the next destination let me know and I'll meet up with you.'_

Caleb sent another message.

**'Confirming if it's this girl & not another student. Going to stay bit longer, u follow N., will catch up..'**

Sam liked following, blending in with the crowd trying not to be noticed. Like this in a big city, the demon tainted blood; Lucifer's body was all distant. He knew his brother was the opposite--looking at big open spaces to get lost in.

Through the crowd and down stairs to the subway station, Sam followed his target . He silently thanked himself for filling a Metrocard with twenty dollars to get through their time in New York City. On the train he grabbed a newspaper to hide himself in the car.

Thankfully, with each stop there was a steady stream of people coming in, and less leaving, packing the car. The train rolled out of Manhattan and into Brooklyn before Nancy got out, leaving Sam to keep a few steps behind. She entered a half brick, half clapboard building. When she did not emerge Sam checked the names on the mailbox finding one with N. Pichler.

He called his brother and reported the address then texted the same to Caleb and waited for them to arrive. A pizza place lured him in just long enough to buy a few slices to tide him over. Across the street from Nancy's building, Sam stood with the pepperoni-covered triangles, folding them in half to eat more quickly.

Dean pulled up in the Impala. "Just hung up with Caleb--he's staying around the girl. He thinks whatever is going to happen, happens tonight and he wants to be around to protect her. That leaves me and you."

"It's nice to have the man power to cover all the angles," Sam said, before joining his brother in the car. He was happy to have its comfort rather than the openness of an inconspicuous corner.

They played cards to pass the time, till Sam folded for good in favor of a short nap. Keeping watch was boring but he had the company of his brother, unlike Caleb who stayed in the vicinity of the apartment building by himself and kept sending texts. Dean let Sam wake on his own but quickly took advantage of his brother's open eyes to grab a bit of sleep for himself. Within minutes Sam recognized the soft snoring of actual rest.

Day passed to evening and the acidic remnants of more pizza bullied Sam's stomach. He was distracted from it when, in the cover of darkness, he saw a familiar shape emerge from the apartment building. While his brother enjoyed a second bout of sleep, Sam had watched as the other occupants passed in and out; but Nancy, once inside had remained, until now. He smacked his brother's arm. "Dean!."

Dean was alert with his hand on the ignition. "Shit, she's heading to the subway."

Sam opened the car door. "I'll keep you updated."

"I'm crossing the bridge," Dean replied, talking about the Brooklyn Bridge which would lead back to Manhattan. "You let me know as soon as you know where she is going- she might be heading to Caleb and the girl."

With fewer people to mingle amongst in the late hour, it was difficult for Sam to keep as close to Nancy as he had before.. He hunched, making himself smaller and blending into the grayness of the surroundings. He was separated from her by a car and trained his eyes onto movements. They were crossing over the East River.

Sam watched the stops go by and then it hit him. He opened his phone as soon as they were above ground and was thankful when Dean answered on the first ring. "We're heading to Central Park. I'm sure of it."

_"She's going to check on the kids. That's where they told us they were hanging out." _Sam heard his brother hit the steering wheel._ "All right, look, I'm gonna call Caleb and let him know. I'll meet you by Strawberry Fields."_

A few stops later Sam praised Dean's intuition when Nancy exited the train in the part of Central Park closer to Lincoln Center.

"Strawberry Fields it is," Sam mumbled, as he worked to keep his target in sight without putting himself at risk for detection. He was tempted to try to connect with Caleb for reassurance, but felt he was not ready to use his abilities even if it was concerning a hunt.

Nancy kept an unnatural speed, almost blurring at times. The shadows of trees danced in Central Park as a breeze picked up. Sam looked around for a moment as a strange sound caught his attention, but he saw nothing unusual. Nancy crossed past Strawberry Fields and Sam sought his brother as he had to bypass their meeting place.

He kept her in view as she raced northward beyond the Conservatory Water to a huge bronze sculpture. Sam wasn't sure which was more surreal--the characters of the Alice In Wonderland statue or the woman who scrambled atop the metal mushroom to stand in front of Alice.

Sam found a hiding place, sliding to the ground near a large tree. Dean came up next to him, causing him to start. He hadn't seen or heard Dean in the park and briefly wondered if Dean had placed a tracker of some sort on him. But, he was unable to ask as both brothers were mesmerized by Nancy who stood tall amongst Hatter, Hare, Cat, and Rabbit with her arms held wide.

"Quit it," Sam whispered as Dean repeatedly prodded him.

"You stop it," Dean retorted, then flinched back as a rat dropped in front of them.

Sam turned his head slowly and swallowed. Rats scurried over their bodies. Sam covered his mouth, making Dean take a look.

"You got to be kidding me!" Dean said with a shiver, but remained in place like Sam.

The rats filled the area around the statue, but there was space left which they avoided. With her hands still out, Nancy began to sing and the children materialized to form a circle around the statue that Nancy stood a top.

Sam turned to his brother, willing him to look over. He mouthed, 'I can see the kids.'

Dean gave him a thumbs up.

Whatever Jim had initially done, to entice Dean to take this case to show he was The Guardian, had lifted and now Sam could see clearly without Joshua's spell. But the victory was short-lived.

A rat broke away and came to rest on her shoulder. She frowned, but gave the rat a pat as if rewarding it. "I have been told there are those present that do not belong. Come out."

Dean looked at Sam as a hush came over the area. The children were turning to seek out what Nancy meant.

"Dude," Dean spat, "she's either talking about us or Caleb got here faster than I thought he would."

"What do we do?" Sam asked, trying to edge back.

"Follow my lead," Dean said and then stood. "Way to call us out."

Sam also rose, unfolding himself from his positionand dusting off the feeling of rats crawling on him. He waved to Nancy. There was whispering amongst those children they had met; loud enough for Sam to hear, for Dean to wince and for it to draw the villain's attention.

Nancy stood high over everyone like a queen with subjects.

The brothers went forward; the children near the tree parted the way for them while the rats skittered away. Sam kept his eyes straight ahead, not acknowledging the kids he knew.

"What have you done?" Nancy rounded on the children who shirked back in fright.

"Lady, isn't that the question we should be asking you?" Dean kept his hands out, but Sam saw he had strapped a blade to his back. The rats did too and moved closer to protect Nancy.

She was theatrical with her hands, making sweeping gestures with a rat on each shoulder now. "He cursed me to this with Requiem. He knew it was his ending, his song, but he didn't think about me."

"Wait. Are you talking about Wolfgang Mozart?" Sam was trying to connect what the woman was saying.

"My husband," she wailed. "Curse that it was his funeral, not mine. I needed my own song. There's no song for that. The children have no song for me. . ." She looked with disgust at the young faces. "All that promise and no song for me."

"You take them; kill them for their musical ability so you can be what? Set free?" Sam swallowed. He was doing the same with people possessed by demons, but instead of freedom and power he got a cage of his own creation.

"I need a song to move on from this, and until then they are mine." A rat scurried near her ear.

"Well, honey, I can help you move on, and Sammy can hum along." Dean pulled the blade from its hiding place.

Sam had taken a smaller blade from the Impala, one that could stay hidden by his jacket while he used the New York transit system. They tried to plow forward, but Nancy flew down taking the form of their mother; blonde hair, white nightdress and soft imploring eyes.

Sam was thrown back to the agony of the detox. His mother's presence telling him he was right, Dean was weak. It should have been mesmerizing, but the family that was important to him was standing next to him. "You're not my mother!"

His yell seemed to cause her to morph into her true form and she flew back to her perch to be replaced by a wall of rats. The children shrieked and Nancy howled with her mouth opened as if she was singing opera. The sound wasn't musical, but harsh and Sam was thrown back a few yards, sliding in the gravel.

The children were cringing. Dean had lurched forward and anchored the blade in the ground, using it to stretch to one of the bronze mushrooms. Her voice was blowing them back with its cacophony. The rats saw what he was doing and fought back. Dean could not spare using his other hand to throw them off.

Sam struggled to get up, battling his own rodents. He sent out a call for help to Caleb, desperately hoping their friend was close. He winced at the application of their rarely-used link.

Where the kids had cringed, they now regrouped their bravery and clasped their hands together in a straight marching attack toward the rats. In response, Nancy changed, blurring into a gray, human form.

Caleb charged in as Sam struggled to stand. The Knight's attention was locked on Dean's attempt to reach the Piperess.

"Deuce!"

However, upon seeing Sam fighting against a swarm of rats, Caleb shifted his attack. He hacked at the rodents while pulling Sam to his feet. Sam retrieved his own blade, ready to help his brother.

Dean stood, shifted to the top of the mushroom, and then leaped.

In that leap Sam saw all the images, expectations he had of his brother, thoughts about not only Caleb's expectations of Dean but also those of the other hunters of The Brotherhood. Nancy's weapon was to take the form of everyone's mother, yet it was an illusion. Dean was The Guardian, and people saw what they got even though Dean didn't see it.

Sam held Caleb back, stopping him from rushing forward. They wouldn't make it in time to help. Dean was going to kill the Piperess by himself. Dean, sword high, cut off Nancy's head. It was not a finesse landing, he had to find purchase on the pocket watch held by the bronze rabbit, but he did.

Dean looked at them with relief. Sam's attention was diverted by the disintegrating presence of the Pied Piperess.

"The kids are disappearing." Caleb said, he patted Sam on the back. The small figures were wisping away. Dean jumped down, walking to them, but watching as each child vanished in a glimmer.

"Where's Matty?" Sam asked.

The remaining children parted for the boy from Maine wearing the Red Sox hat. He lifted his hand to Dean, then turned to the boy next to him whom Sam assumed was Billy. They disappeared.

Caleb kicked away the carcass of a rat. "Too bad these things are'nt just vanishing."

Sam rubbed his nose at the bloody rats they had killed. Without their leader, the survivors scurried to be absorbed by New York City. In the shadow of the Alice In Wonderland statue in the midst of Central Park it was just the three of them: Dean, Sam and Caleb. Sam smiled. "Saving people, hunting things."

"I guess 'One For All and All For One' has already been taken," Caleb commented.

"And it's not original," Dean replied. "And don't you want to be the best Triad ever?"

Sam nodded his agreement. Dean had accepted his role--The Guardian. There was no hint of protest in his comfortable stance, which Sam recognized in its rarity. It gave Sam confidence, too; they would surpass everyone's expectations, even their own.


	7. Epilogue

Play On: Epilogue

By: Tidia & Ridley C. James

Beta: Mog

Rating & Disclaimer: See Part 1

Notes: Happy New Year! The happy notes that people sent were a great way to end and start the year. So glad you enjoyed the hunt part interwoven with the plot. This epilogue was written by Ridley, because she had a vision for it. I made some changes/adjustments to it and voila: The New Triad.

**Epilogue**

Dean and Sam made the drive to Louisville in a day. It had been like the old days, pre-Stanford, with their only worry being their father's disposition and the demon. Those had been their simpler times with Dean's duty cemented to watching his brother. Dean never shied away from the responsibility thrust upon him. He was trusted with it.

Watching the kids be released with his brother and Caleb fighting the good fight with him made Dean realize he wanted this for himself. He was the man he could be proud of, and this job he earned was not punishment. It was an accolade.

Sam had relaxed too, spending time in the Tomb while Dean played proud homeowner at the farm. As soon as Caleb came down from New York Dean assigned him a job of cleaning the barn and some carpentry work on the stalls to free himself up to work on something else. The house had to be ready for its visitors.

Dean had just finished dragging the boat to the edge of the water preparing for launch when Boo's whining alerted him to Sam and Caleb's approach. Dean knelt, securing the new tow line to the anchoring stake driven into the bank of the pond. Sam cleared his throat and Dean abandoned his task to face his brother and Caleb. He forced a smile. "Should have known you two would show up now that all the work's done."

"You've been out here most of the night." Caleb kept his distance from the water, glancing to the boat before meeting Dean's gaze. "Nice paint job."

"Thanks." Dean had started after the sun went down, finishing his work by the light of the full moon. He had gone for midnight blue on the inside to cover the blood stains. It had taken three coats to erase all traces of his death. The outside was a silver Jim would have liked. "I thought about having you do a big dragon on the side, Damien, but figured it was overkill."

"Good choice." Sam had two cups of coffee in his hands, one of which he offered to Dean. "It might scare all the fish away."

"Like there were ever any fish in there to begin with," Caleb snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked uncomfortable, his eyes drifted to the gently lapping water. "That was another one of Pastor Jim's fairytales."

"I'll have you know there are fish in this pond." Dean pointed to the new rod and reel he'd picked up at Wal-Mart when he'd gotten the paint. "Boo and I are about to get you your proof."

The dog barked, hopping into the boat. Dean was glad for the fast drying paint.

Caleb took a step forward. "You are not going out in the water in that thing."

"Of course I am." Dean took a drink of coffee, sharing a look with his brother. "You and Sam are going to help me launch."

"Right." Caleb crossed his arms over his chest. Dean recognized the 'never in a million years' look.

"I filled in the grave, used the cross Bobby made for me as kindling, even planted a bunch of grass seed." Dean wasn't sure anything would grow in the wake of Castiel's miracle, but he was willing to try. "This is the last thing on my list."

"Your list?" Sam asked.

"I want to do this Triad thing right." Dean took another drink of the dark brew, recognizing Bobby's heavy hand in the grounds department. He'd come to peace with his place as the next Guardian. Along with the faint stirrings of anticipation came the need to seek Jim's counsel. He, Caleb, Sam, Bobby and Mac had spent hours after dinner last night swapping stories about the former Guardian. Dean knew it was an attempt on all their parts to ease the ache of Jim's and Dad's absence, but it only made Dean miss them more especially in light of Matty telling him about seeing Jim. Dean felt the pull of the pond.

"Putting a fresh coat of paint on things doesn't change what happened, Deuce."

"I didn't say it did, man, but it gives us the chance to move past it."

"Missouri made pancakes." Caleb dropped his arms, changing tactics. His eyes had taken on a shade of desperation. "There's bacon and eggs, too. It won't last long once Ethan, Eli and Josh all get here."

"I trust you two to guard my share." Dean handed Sam his coffee.

"But the ceremony…" Sam started.

"Isn't until tonight." He gave the boat a shove so the bow was now barely in the water. Others would be arriving at the farm shortly. Jocelyn, Esme, Adam and some high level members from the coven, even Griffin Porter was coming. They wouldn't be present at the actual ritual, but for the party afterwards.

The morning they left New York, Jocelyn had shared her stories with them. She told of the last transfer of power when hunters came from all around to join in the celebration. It was an opportunity for the old to greet the new, to embrace the future and hand down the ways of the past. She talked about the music and the feel of magic in the air.

A celebration was ludicrous in the midst of Armageddon, but so was performing an ancient rite of passage. Dean would have liked to have just raised his right hand and said 'I do.'

Somewhere Jim was getting a big kick out of all this.

He knew Caleb was reading his thoughts when his friend's scowl disappeared behind a hint of a grin. "Usually the nervous bride just hides out in her room all day doing beautification rituals, Deuce. Fishing and communing with nature isn't usually on the roster."

"I naturally outshine the two of you." Dean slapped his brother on the back. "All eyes are going to be on me, anyway."

"Stop talking about it like that," Sam growled. "I'm nervous enough as it is."

"What?" Dean grinned. "We're only pledging our lives to the service of countless innocents."

"Jocelyn did say it was more binding and sacred than holy matrimony." Caleb bobbed his brows at Sam. "No pre-nups and divorce isn't an option. Don't forget to put a six pence in your shoe for luck, Runt."

"Shut up." Sam tossed out the rest of the coffee, setting the mugs on the ground.

"Don't sweat it, Sammy. That just means we can take all of Damien's millions if he screws around on us."

Sam shoved his brother. "Get in the damn boat."

Dean laughed, stepping into the vessel. "You two go have Missouri braid flowers in your hair and prep you for your part in the ceremony. I'll be fine out here."

"That your way of telling us you want some alone time?' Caleb stepped forward alongside Sam.

"Don't worry, Princess. After tonight, we'll have the rest of our lives together." Dean batted his lashes. Sam gave the boat a hard push, sliding it across the loose sand. It knocked Dean off balance. He caught himself, dropping to the middle bench seat, Boo barking in excitement.

Dean grabbed the paddles, meeting Caleb's gaze. His friend rolled his eyes, but hunched over to give Sam a hand. With both of them putting their backs into it, they managed a perfect launch, casting Dean into the sparkling water.

"Healing, right?" Dean called out to them, rowing steadily away from the bank and out of their reach.

Caleb shook his head, but Dean noticed the smile was more genuine. "A hell of a lot better than last time."

"Idiot," Sam muttered. "I'm going to eat."

Caleb stood on the shore, watching him for a moment more. "I'm coming back in an hour."

Dean nodded, not doubting it. A moment to soak in the idea of what he was about to do, the commitment he was prepared to make. With each dip of the paddle his mind swirled with possibilities of what lay ahead, each stroke brought thoughts of what he had left behind.

_"I remember the day I accepted Julian's offer be The Guardian."_ Dean jerked his eyes from the water, not surprised to find Pastor Jim sitting on the seat across from him. _"It wasn't a traditional transition as yours will be, but I was nervous and frightened just the same."_

Dean smiled. "About time you showed up, Merlin."

_"Hello, my boy."_ Jim patted his knee. _"We have much to talk about."_

Before they spoke about what was going to happen Dean had to ask about the recent past. "I saw those kids when Caleb and Sammy couldn't. Did you have something to do with that? More Guardian mojo?"

_"We see what we need to when it's most important."_ Jim smiled._ "Julian once described being The Guardian as living the life of a nesting doll. There is always another gift inside to discover."_

Dean shook his head. Jim was always so proud of being The Guardian, but not in a haughty way. He made it sound like an adventure, which Dean had signed on for.

In the end it was just as Jim said it would be. Dean wasn't anxious. He felt as if he were right where he was always meant to be. He stood beside Caleb and Sam bathed in the firelight, watching as Missouri took precautions to protect them while the Triad ritual was performed. Even though their transition wasn't like the celebrations of past, Dean still felt the tingle of magic in the air. The wind chimes from the porch provided a certain kind of music.

Missouri began by placing Elijah, Ethan and Bobby at strategic points behind them, away from the bonfire they had built in the field. Missouri was creating a living protection circle around them. Dean could have chosen any of The Brotherhood for this job. It was his right as the future Guardian to pick those to witness the ceremony. Bobby was a no brainer. Ethan and Elijah were picked by Jim as a potential Triad themselves. They had lost a brother in the fight. Gideon gave his life so Dean could have the opportunity to serve as Guardian. Having Ethan and Eli there was a way for Dean to honor that sacrifice.

A faint purple light traced Missouri's path as she walked between the men, giving each a magical artifact as she sealed the outer circle. Dean recognized the items from The Tomb. He understood they represented the ideas of knowledge, strength and sacrifice that Merlin had intended The Brotherhood to use in protecting mankind. Elijah held a lantern, Ethan a shield, and Bobby a purple scarf draped over his shoulders. Dean bit his lip to keep from laughing when the mechanic rolled his eyes at Missouri's dramatics.

Missouri cleared her throat, casting a reprimanding glance Dean's way. She moved to where Joshua stood between the inner circle and the outer circle of Bobby, Ethan and Elijah.

They bowed to each other and she withdrew a knife from beneath the billows of her silver robe, offering it hilt first to Joshua. He accepted it with a slight bow and held it out on his palms to Mackland before returning to his position.

Mackland faced the boys. He gave each a brief smile, winking at Sam who was sweating. Dean watched as the last remaining member of the current Triad knelt on the earth, carving the Triad symbol into the cleared ground before him. When he finished he returned the blade to Joshua. Missouri moved to be with the outer protection circle.

Mackland removed his ring, kneeling to place it in the outer area of the right circle before facing Caleb. "The Knight's ring?"

Dean watched as his friend gave John's ring to Mac. Dean had never actually seen his dad wear the silver, not once, but knew he kept it with him. When he died, Dean passed it on to Caleb along with the truck.

Mackland placed the band in the outer left circle, moving to stand in front of Dean. "The Guardian's ring?"

Dean squeezed the cool silver in his fingers, unable to stop the thoughts that his dad and Jim should be there. He remembered the day Caleb called to tell them the pastor had been murdered. He recalled the night Caleb gave him Jim's ring, and how even then Dean had understood on some level what the gesture meant. He knew well the inscription inside the ring. He gave the ring to Mac, watching as the former Guardian's band was placed in the outer section of the bottom circle.

"Now your rings." Mac took their bands, grouping them together in the inner portion of the symbol, the small space where all three of the larger circles conjoined. He straightened, holding Dean's gaze. "The time of my Triad is over. I call for a new era to take up the challenge."

Dean glanced at his brother, then Caleb. He stepped forward, inclining his head. "We accept the challenge." He raised his hand over the Triad symbol, remembering the specifics Jim had shared with him. He closed his eyes.

The first time Dean had unknowingly called the silver it left him stunned, slightly terrified and drained. This was different. He felt the energy surge through him as he concentrated on the rings of the former Triad. The metal yielded to his silent command.

The former Triad's bands melted, running like three silver streams from each outer circle, merging to form a small shimmering pool in the center of the Triad symbol. For a moment Sam's, Caleb's and Dean's rings were buoyant, bobbing in the molten water before liquefying to join the silver mass.

"In the name of Brotherhood," Dean said. He opened his eyes, watching as his words heralded an explosion of light. A brilliant flame leaped from the Triad symbol, burning bright yellow, red then finally an icy blue. It died out and in its wake The Triad symbol glowed bright. Each ring of the glyph Mackland had carved on the ground stood out in a fiery brand.

The Scholar's circle was yellow, The Knight's a deep red, and the bottom circle glowed blue for The Guardian. The three silver rings of the new Triad were restored, shining in the outer circles where Mackland had placed his former Triad's bands. The inner circle shone white, only one ring remaining.

It was the silver band in the center that Dean picked up first. Somehow Merlin's magic recognized the last remaining member of the former Triad, honoring his place as an elder. It was only fitting that the first ring Dean would give would be to Mackland. "You are more than the former Scholar."

Mackland's gray eyes shimmered as he accepted the silver. "Thank you."

Dean took The Knight's ring next, offering it to his best friend with a smile. He clasped Caleb's forearm. "Third time is charmed, Damien." Dean referred to the two other times he had to return Caleb's ring to him.

Caleb grinned, squeezing back. "I'll make sure it stays put this time, Deuce."

Dean retrieved the final ring from the symbol, moving to stand in front of his brother. "Sammy."

Sam's face was solemn. "Dean."

"Mom, Dad and Jess would be proud of you." Dean placed the ring in his brother's hand, closing his fingers over Sam's. All their tragedy had brought them to this point; Dean wanted to move forward with hope. "I'm proud of you, too."

Sam slid the ring on his finger. "I won't let you down, Dean."

Dean patted his brother's cheek. "See that you don't, Scholar."

He grinned at Josh. "I call forth The Advisor." Mackland passed Dean the knife he had used to cut the circle in the earth.

Joshua stepped forward. Dean met his gaze, surprised to see the twinkle of amusement in the other man's blue eyes. They had come a long way in the last few years. "Do you accept this post, Brother?" He held out the hilt of the blade.

"I do, Guardian." Joshua took the blade, placing it in the empty sheath at his side. His gaze turned serious. "I will serve your Triad well with honor and, above all else, loyalty."

Dean nodded. "Then welcome." He'd felt a little silly adhering to the use of ancient titles and terminology, but he wasn't about to rile Missouri by not following her instructions to the letter.

Joshua moved past him, taking herbs from the pouch hanging around his neck. He whispered a quick incantation, scattering the herbs over the Triad symbol. It glowed bright once more before quickly fading, all traces of its presence disappearing from sight. He moved from Bobby, to Ethan and Eli, taking the objects from them, the purple light receding in his wake, erasing the protection circle in the opposite direction it had been formed. The artifacts would be returned to The Tomb.

Dean rejoined Caleb and Sam, glancing to the stars above them. Orion blinked down, seeming brighter than the full moon. Dean hoped his favorite constellation wasn't the only hunter looking upon them from above. This might not have been the celebration Jim hoped for, the passing of the torch he imagined, but Dean had faith that maybe they could create a future where the past could once again flourish.

He let his gaze go to Mackland once more, feeling the surge of energy quake through his silver ring, knowing it echoed in Caleb's and Sam's bands as well. "Let the new era begin."

Mac smiled and on the wind echoed a faint but familiar. "Amen, my boys. Amen."


End file.
